And, to take the edge off, a financial wellness word search with a fun prize!

Want a sneak peek of the content? Here’s an excerpt with two of the nine tips for better financial wellness messaging on page 18:

1. Provide a list of ‘to-dos’–not general knowledge

Your employees don’t want to understand the principles of financial wellness. They want a list of stuff they need to do–and suggestions on when and how to do it.

So as you’re creating or curating content to share with your workforce, err on the side of using step-by-step checklists and suggested deadlines–and avoid broad advice.

2. Be positive and create a sense of progress.

In 2004, two USC professors conducted an experiment at a car wash, involving those ‘buy X, get one free’ loyalty punch cards. They gave half the customers a ten-wash card with two ‘starter punches’ and gave the other half an eight-wash card with no punches, then checked back later on to see at what rate the two groups filled their cards up with punches. It turned out that the first group got their free wash at almost twice the rate of the second, even though both groups needed the same exact amount of punches to get there.

The point? If you make your employees feel they’re already moving forward, they’re more likely to keep moving forward. Assign them small, doable tasks (with suggested deadlines, even) to help them gain some traction and confidence in their ability to actually do this thing.

Like the cut of these tips’ jib? Get all nine (plus 30+ more pages of financial wellness communication goodness) for free right now: